Trojans pull away from Hahnville

Thursday

MATHEWS – The Central Lafourche boys basketball team never trailed in Wednesday night’s District 7-5A clash with Hahnville.

However, the Tigers pulled within a basket several times in the second half before the Trojans pulled away for a 60-49 victory.

David Robinson led the Trojans with 17 points, while Marvin Robertson and Jamiree Williams added 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Kendall Pierre led Hahnville with 10 points.

“It seemed like we were really tired and couldn’t get anything going,” Trojans coach Mark Sanders said. “We didn’t do a good job of running our offensive sets, but in the end, we keep finding way to win the basketball game.”

“I was disappointed in our execution. We didn’t play our style of basketball form the start of the game,” Tigers coach Yussef Jasmine said. “We only scored seven points in the first quarter and seven point in the second quarter.”

Central Lafourche (20-7 overall, 9-2 district) worked the ball inside out in the first quarter.

Robinson attacked the rim for eight points on a trio of layups and as short jumper in the lane.

His efforts were bookended by corner 3-pointers by Williams and Alex Sanders (seven points) for 14-7 Trojans lead.

Hahnville (21-9 overall, 7-4 district) responded with seven consecutive points to begin the second quarter after Robinson left the game with blood on his jersey.

Ian Arnold drained a three from the wing and a transition layup, while Kaden Pierre made two free throws to tie the game at 14.

When Robinson returned, the Trojans ended the half with seven unanswered points.

In the final seconds, Robinson blocked a shot, and Williams grabbed the ball and sprinted to the other end for a layup to put Central Lafourche ahead 21-14.

“We started with David outside and bringing him in on the screen and the shooter out. We had the inside-out game going to make their zone expand and collapse,” Mark Sanders said. When he went out, our biggest guy on the floor was Jamiree at 6’1” with hair. I had five guards on the floor, five ball handlers, fiver shooters, but we didn’t take advantage of that.”

“In the first half they didn’t do nothing special. I don’t why we started off so slow,” Jasmine said. “I don’t know why our tempo was the way it was. We didn’t play fast pace or capitalize when we had the size advantage.”

After Williams opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, Hahnville countered with a 14-5 run.

Glenn Grover scored seven straight on a corner three and consecutive layups off back-court steals, while Alonge McClain nailed a three pointer to get the Tigers within 29-28.

Central Lafourche answered with a burst of 13 consecutive points.

Williams and Robinson combined to score the final 10 of the third quarter.

Then Marvion Poindexter (seven points) began the fourth with a steal and was fouled on a layup for a three-point play, giving the Trojans its biggest lead at 42-28.

Hahnville used a 10-0 run, capped by a Kendall Pierre three, to get within 42-38 with five minutes remaining.

However, Robinson, Robertson and Alex Sanders each delivered tough layups, and the Trojans made their free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

“We changed from a man-to-man to zone in the third quarter. That stopped the screening and movement. They couldn’t anything in a rhythm,” Mark Sanders said. “It made them stand around, take shots but not get any second shots.”

“Coming into the game we knew we could pressure them because they weren’t deep,” Jasmine said. “I don’t think we pressured them enough. When we got back in the game, we pressured them. Then it got to a point where we’d force a turnover and immediately turn it over again. That was the difference in the game.”

Central Lafourche will look to claim the district title outright on Friday night when they face Thibodaux, and hope to head into the playoff with a 10-game winning streak.

“The best thing we’ve done is play better together,” Mark Sanders said. “We lost to H.L. (Bourgeois) and East St. John both by six points in the last minute. Since January we’ve been finishing games. We need to keep that going entering the playoffs.”